"You can't be serious!!" Donovan stood tall in the cart, furious. "Why the hell do I have to be the one to poke at! There are plenty of humans back above ground!"
"It's the cost of their silence," Bjorn said.
Kalika, blurted a silent chuckle. Suddenly, the boy, with a clueless excitement stood and shouted. "
"N-no.
"If you prefer to kill them, go ahead and do it."
"N-no no! I. I don't mean that! I meant- shit..." Donovan slumped back down in defeat with the demon child following his lead and sitting beside him. "No That wouldn't work." Donovan continued. "We probably don't have enough food. A-alright, fine. So, how are we supposed to make sure they keep their word anyway?"
"We'll form a contract with them, obviously." Bjorn turned. "I think I have some spare pelts in that bag, so we could use those and I'll use my blood to write it down. And we'll craft and sign it once the town is in sight."
Donovan exhaled. "Jeez. Why do I feel like I'm getting the bad end of the stick here?" He leered at the demons, still scribbling fiercely as that studied him.
"Honestly, it's impressive they're still writing. they must really like you," Kalika noted
"Being adored by some demons, is the last thing I want." Donovan said.
"Hey, Bjorn," Kalika called. "How long will it be until we've reached this Kasak place?"
"My guess is around another ten hours, so we should reach it before night arrives."
"Right. And then it's that other town after that." Kalika noted.
"If there's still light, yes. But we'll have to see once we've arrived, since we may need to stay a night."
"Well, the sooner the better." Donovan chimed.
"Yes. Yes. Everyone's ready to leave, I know. But be sure to keep your wits about you." Bjorn warned. "You never know when more of those bounty hunters will come again. Isn't that right, Kalika?"
"Sure..." Kalika turned, trying ignore Bjorn. She watched the scholars as they finished writing and exchanging notes with one another.
"
"
"
"
"
Kalika rolled her eyes. "
A few of the scholars cheered, with some blurting a laugh. "
""
"
"
"That far north, but why move in the first place?" Donovan quietly asked.
Kalika glanced, a little confused. "Donovan?"
"O-oh, Sorry, I was just curious and wanted to look at their map." He defended.
Kalika remained silent before turning back to the demons. " " Kalika straightened and pursed her lips, conflicted. " " " " "Uh-huh…" Uninterested, Kalika peered out from the cart. " "What happened to that?" Kalika questioned.
"O-oh. This? Those bounty hunters from that village threw it in the forest. I think it might've hit a couple of rocks or trees, but I think it'll be fine." Donovan arched and wiggled around the clingy child, reaching and pulling a bag. From inside, he pulled one of the large green crystals.
Kalika watched keenly as he removed some of the splinters and cracked a crystal down to size before placing it in the small groove. The scholars watched closely and marveled at his action, taking a complete interest in his strange action.
Donovan, with a last bit of rope, finished tying the crystal on and said, "Just in case." He flashed a small at sat the pip to the side.
The boy eyed the pipe lying beside them like candy. " "H-hey, not for kids!"
Kalika blurted a chuckle while watching the sudden exchange.
" " The boy buried his head deeper into Donovan's lap, forcing a sigh from him. With some reluctance, glancing from the scholars to Bjorn, Donovan called. "Hey. Hey, kid." Shaking his shoulders as he did.
Slowly, the boy raised his head, and watched in aweas a sphere of earth formed in Donovan's hand. The stone ball quickly fell into Donovan's hands and, without hesitation, rolled across the shaking cart floor.
The stone ball rolled and bounced. Following the small grooves between the planks of wood. The boy, entranced, took the stone ball and played with it, bouncing it back and forth between his hands like a game of ping pong.
Kalika lazily watched as that boy focused intensely with his mouth agape. "And what's the point of that?"
"Come on, don't tell me you weren't a kid playing with toys before."
"Toys, is that what you're calling it?"
"Anything's a toy if you know how to use your imagination. I did the same thing with twigs and pinecones in the forest. My dad wouldn't be happy about it, but I'd remember how my mom would always pick me up and clean me so gently."
"Really? Sounds like you've had a good life."
Donovan shook his head slowly, losing the smile on his face. "No. No… When I was eight, my mom died from a sickness. And not long after, my dad married a daughter of one of those noblemen who worked under the king. She brought along her own daughter, and they were… less than kind. Far less."
"I'm…" Kalika grew steadily quiet, and slowly averted her gaze. "I'm sorry to hear."
"Don't be. You had nothing to do with what happened." Donovan reassured.
Glancing back, Kalika watched as Donovan conjured another stone sphere and, with immense concentration, flattened it to a disc. "Just out of curiosity… How did you end up in the army in the first place?"
"Umm… well… It goes back to my family. My stepmother wanted to strip me of my father's inheritance. And my Uncle... When he learned about it, he tried to warn my father, but he refused listen. In the end, I was still disowned and forced to join the army to prove my loyalty to Celestine. And my uncle."
Downcast, Donovan's eyes drew to the ground with a voice that slowly broke. "Well… My uncle died trying to kill that horrible woman. Only for my father to kill him. Honestly, I can still remember the light leaving his eyes right before my dad condemned me a traitor and labeled me as complete embarrassment to 'his' bloodline," he blurted a laugh. "Which is ironic, considering that my so-called step-sister is nowhere related to him."
"Sounds like you had quite the life as a son of a noble's upbringing," Bjorn said.
"I wouldn't say getting pushed around was a noble upbringing. Honestly, I'm just glad to be away from them. They can all rot in hell for all I care."
"Why don't you go back and avenge yourself?" Kalika suddenly asked. "I wouldn't mind lending a helping hand."
"Thanks, Kalika. But no thanks. There's no reason to go back to Celestine for me. Besides, even if I did kill them and or got revenge some other way, it really wouldn't matter."
"Of course it matters," Kalika argued. "If they caused you so much pain, there's no point in letting them live."
"Yeah, but that won't really solve anything for me. I mean, I…" Donovan paused, thinking of his words. "I… won't get any satisfaction from it. Killing them won't make me any happier or change what we're going through. The most it'll do is make me a fugitive in Celestine and probably Kynreth, too, for that matter. Does that make sense?"
Kalika sighed and scooted further into the corner of the cart. "You know, that you're too nice for your own good, right?"
"Too nice?" Donovan laughed. He placed the stolen disc on the floor and conjured another sphere to flatten. "I'm not sure about that."
"You don't believe me? Trust when I say that I've seen and dealt with it before, many times over. People with your disposition typically never last long. So…" Kalika turned. "So try to think about yourself a little more, okay."
"Sure thing." Donovan laid the fourth disc on the ground. He then conjured an even larger cube and, with an even deeper focus, concentrated. Slowly, a round indentation was forced into the cube. It stopped shortly after, leaving a cube with a round indentation inside. "Damn it. I guess I'm still not there…"
"What are you trying to do now?"
"I was trying to make a smaller version of this cart but…. I don't think I got it right."
A sudden growl erupted. The boy, playing with the stone ball, lowered his head, sad. With the puff of her nose, Kalika quietly reached for a pouch and dug inside. She pulled a handful of her jerky and laid it on the disc, handing it to the child.
The boy stared at Kalika in confusion.
" "Kalika… why are you… Giving him your jerky?"
With narrowed eyes, she peered at Donovan. "To make up for your dumb project." Kalika glanced back at the boy. " Although hesitant at first, the boy gave in, taking the first meat strip and coming down with his sharp teeth. He gobbled on after another under the watchful eyes of Kalika and Donovan.
"Cute…" Kalika thought. A laugh quietly escaped her lips as she continued to watch on with subtle satisfaction rising. However, an emptiness just as quickly filled her heart, along with a pang in her gut. Unwilling to give in to the rising feelings, she steeled herself, tying her pouch back up and tossing it back. " Kalika then turned and picked up Slyph's journal to read. She opened it, prepared to read the next flurry of notes.
" Kalika froze for a second and, with a deep breath, returned to her book. ""
********
A blue Karnal demon with short black, messy hair and ice blue eyes laid in the messy, musty bed of a swaying wooden ship. He laughed to himself, red-faced as several slave marked succubi cuddled closer to him.
" " " " " "" A sharp pink-eyed woman with long black hair and loose clothing stood tall, smirking with a slight amusement. A slave crest marked on her chest flashed before turning to leave. " " " One of the Succubus climbed onto his stomach. She held his face and stared straight into his eyes, hypnotizing him with her lustful pink eyes. His face burned a deeper crimson, and he wheezed out a laugh.
Finished, she licked her lips, satisfied. " " The succubus on sitting, turned stoking her chin thoughtfully. "